Straight on till Morning
by Red Constance
Summary: When Bryony was a little girl, a strange man came to her and took her to another world. After an epic quest, she was sent back into our world- doomed to think she was crazy. Just as she regained her sanity, she was pulled back in. What did her Raggedy Angel want from her? Was he even real? Or was it only her mind fragmenting like everyone said? Sam/OC/Balthazar.


Straight on till Morning

Chapter 01

The Raggedy Angel

A little girl kneeled in front of her bedroom window, the glass was wide open, the long white curtains were whipping around the room with the wind. The window frame itself was dented and split, and its light blue paint was chipped and weathered. She was a cute girl, named Bryony-Fauna, she wore a light green nightgown, like the color of her eyes, and her feet were bare- Bry hated the very thought of shoes. She liked feeling the earth beneath her feet, filling in the negative space between her toes. Through the open window was heavy woods, pine, birch, and maple trees towering high, high above the top of her family's two story cabin. Every constellation glistened bright and visible in the sky and the moon glowed in what the seven year old called the shape of a toe nail.

The room she kneeled in was large, on the ceiling were glow in the dark stars placed in clusters like galaxies. Bryony dreamed of the stars, of far off lands and kingdoms. The walls yellow paint was covered with drawings and paintings, they were all advanced for a seven year old. Her use of color was immaculate, but her lines weren't the greatest- but that would develop with time- the talent was there. Her bed was full sized with a canopy hanging over it, she'd stuck flowers in it and weaved thin vines of leaves through it with a needle. Bry always made sure her flowers were fresh, her home schooling allowed her the time.

Bryony's hands were pressed together and her forehead leaned against her thumbs. Her dark brown hair was in messy waves falling in front of her olive toned face. She was trying to find words, but was falling flat. Was there anything she could pray for?

Bryony wasn't raised with religion. Not at all. Her parents weren't the most traditional pair. Her mother was Native American, Penobscot to be specific. Her name was Aiyana Solomon before she married. Ana married a burly ginger man that wore much too much flannel and had the biggest beard on their college campus. They moved to Central Aroostook, Maine to start a family, and they more than got one. Thomas and Ana taught their children to treat people with respect, to cherish the trees and animals, to accept life's flaws. She didn't believe in Angels, or in God, or the devil, she only believed in Mother Earth. But she was a child, and everything intrigued her, she wanted to explore. The previous night, she had her first sleepover, and the girl had prayed before she went to sleep- needless to say, Bryony wanted to figure out why.

Scrunching up her freckly little nose and her eyebrows, she tried to remember what her friend had said, shutting the lids of her eyes, covering the seas of green. "Now I am- no. Now I lay me down to sleep." Bry recalled and paused. "I want to keep my soul to sleep." Bryony groaned and took a breath in, crossing her arms. Giving up, huffing in frustration. Leaving the window open, she got up and closed her closets double doors. Her room was an addition to the house, she was child number six, and the house had four rooms. Her parents shared one, her eldest brother had his own, the twins shared one, her two older sisters took the final. So her father built an addition, it was essentially a little log cabin off to the side, It wasn't even attached to the main house. You might suppose it wasn't very wise to leave a little girl out on her own, and you'd be right. Especially because Bryony had made a habit of sneaking out at night. After Bry was four, she and her eldest brother switched.

There was a fluffy pink bathrobe hanging up next to the door and a bow and flashlight on the small side table beneath it. She slipped the robe over her nightgown, both reached her ankles and it looked a little funny- especially when she slung her bow over her torso. After she grabbed her flashlight, she opened her door, careful not to use the flashlight yet. When her foot touched the dewy grass she smiled, the cool northern Maine air surrounded her. The flashlight flicked on when she reached the trees. As always, she glanced over her shoulder to look back at her house, Bryony ventured to her spot within the wood. She'd marked the path with arrows tied to trees, she didn't want to shoot them in, so instead they were tied up with twine.

She reached her little clearing. It was rather small. All that marked it was some targets set up with broken arrows stuck in it that she wasn't strong enough to get out. She'd planted lots of daisy's around and there were beds of them scattered about. Behind a fallen log stood a man, his hair was graying and messy, he had a patchy beard and strong shoulders. In his hand he held a black jacket and wore a grey v neck that had several punctures and tears and some splatters of red. Like Bryony, he's feet were bare. The left pant leg was ripped at the knee and the right had a piece of glass in it. "Who are you?" Asked the brave child. If logic had played any role in that little mind of hers, she should have been afraid of the man standing across from her, but instead she was curious, he didn't seem to be a threat. Besides, even if he had been, Bryony wouldn't know the difference- where she was from, there was no such thing as 'stranger danger'- because everyone knew everyone and their grandmothers.

"I'm an angel of The Lord." He introduced, extending his hand out to her. She took it without hesitation, shaking it. It sounded rather silly, rather blunt, but Bryony accepted his introduction.

"Well I'm Bryony, and you sound funny." Bryony smiled at him, but didn't let go of his hand. She'd never heard an accent before, and it was yet another thing that she was intrigued by. Her hand was tiny and fragile in his, but he hardly held it- it was more she rested it in his hand. "What's a raggedy angel doing talking to me?"

The angel raised an eyebrow. "Raggedy angel? That's a new one." He'd been called many things in his centuries, but that was not one of them. Bryony sat on the fallen tree and patted the seat beside her, he took the seat. "Anyways, I'm just a very old man looking for an adventure- you see back where I'm from, my siblings get to have all the fun."

Bryony let out a melodramatic sigh, "Tell me about it!" she exasperated. "My brothers get to do whatever they want, even steal my cookies- and my sisters are just a big butt faces!" Bryony disliked her siblings a lot of the time, they'd excluded her often and tried to tell her that her stories weren't real. Bryony loved making up stories, after all, she'd only had herself for company- So she had nothing better to do than pretend she was a princess and put on plays for her stuffed animals. Her parents frequently discussed trying to find someone for Bryony to talk to, because they feared her tales were becoming too elaborate, that she was retreating into her mind so young that she may never re-emerge. They hadn't had these problems with the four older children. They were all loud, all playful, sporty, energetic, extraverted... and Bryony was just the opposite. They would never talk about that in front of her though, but Bryony was a pro ease dropper. When she heard these things, it hurt her, and it just made her retreat further into her mind.

"Well what do you say, Bryony, why don't we run away together?" Bryony thought of running frequently, but she was always afraid to. Like the angel said, she wanted adventure- just like he did, she wanted her very own story. For people to read about her and want to be in her shoes. Her face lit up.

"Can we go to the stars?!" She asked in pure wonder, turning her tiny body to him, "Can we?!" Her wonder transformed into excitement.

"Don't see why not, I'll take you back to my world." He decided, seemingly spontanious but very likely pre meditated.

Bryony got up and went to sit between the beds of daisies, that is why she'd planted them after all. She shined the flashlight on him. "What's your world called?" Her fascination with the man that had come to take her away was almost frightening. Correction, it wasn't almost frightening- it WAS.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was called Neverland?" He asked the girl, using the first tale he could think of. The angel was running out of time though, his brother was on standby, waiting to take him back through the portal he'd entered through- in our world- he was powerless. And he didn't particularly like that feeling. It was like if you were at your peak in life and health to be suddenly a victim of a horrible accident and told you were paralyzed from the neck down. Everything was going on in his head, and yet, he could not act upon it.

Bry laid down her head, she could see shadows of flowers in her peripheral vision. "I don't want to go to a Neverland or a Wonderland." She picked a daisy and smelled it. "I want my world, it's called Starland, and it's better than the other two."

"Oh yes? And why is that?" The angel asked her, crossing his arms. It was his turn to be curious.

"Because it's mine of course, silly man." She picked a flower and smelled it. "You see, when I am there I don't have mean sisters, or troublemaking brothers. And mom and dad don't tell the doctor that I'm crazy- I'm just special, I keep telling them. The queen even told me so!" The angel felt a little sad for the girl as she spoke, someone so young shouldn't feel so alone. No one ever should for that matter, when they do... well his big brother Lu was an example of that.

"Who's the queen?" He inquired.

"The queen of Starland, she's real nice, you know? Real beautiful too, she's a mermaid, I'll have you know."

"Tell me more about this- Starland."

"Well, it's a lot like my woods here, you see. I have more arrows though, and the animals and the trees and flowers can talk to me! But there is mountains and rivers and oceans and canyons and plains and castles and dragons! Everyone can fly and breath underwater, and we- we can all use magic! and that's the best part." She gushed. "The magic is what makes Starland better than all the other lands. AND I never have to grow up."

"Well, I would love to visit you there one day." Bryony sat up when he'd said this, very much surprised.

"You believe me?" She asked him, he nodded. Bryony ran her little feet over to him and pulled him into a tight, tight embrace. "Thank you, raggedy angel, you're a real friend." Or so Bry felt. No one had ever accepted her before, let alone believed in her Starland. So of course, desperate to be loved and accepted, Bryony clung to her raggedy angel- and she would continue to call him that for a very, very long time. After all, she would never catch his name on this day.

"Why don't you let me go and find Starland for you. I promise I'll be back in three days, right here, and I will take you there." Bryony's smile couldn't radiate any more than it did at that moment.

"You would do that? You would really, really go and find Starland?" She asked him with glassy eyes, so happy to have met the raggedy man.

"I promise, now go home, and I will see you in three days exactly." With that, Bryony ran home. She didn't loose an arrow, which was her whole reason for sneaking out in the first place. When she approached the house, she turned her flashlight off and snuck back into her cozy addition. She took off her bathrobe and hung it on its designated hook below her multiple drawings of Starland. Smiling, knowing they would soon come to be, when her raggedy angel came back. She jumped onto her bed and looked at the celling, the glow in the dark stars taunting her. She fell asleep thinking of the man she'd met and his words, before she slept a whisper came through her lips. "To live will be an awfully big adventure."

* * *

In the days that followed, she never put down her sketchbook. Drawing the angels face, his clothes, trying to get it just right. Now, on top of her ramblings of a world that did not exist, she spoke of this man. Her parents were even more concerned than ever, they wanted to know what what wrong with her, what they could do. But there was nothing they could do, because it was real to Bryony, and nothing was going to change that. They'd sent her to a counselor the day she was supposed to go meet the angel. It didn't go well. Bryony talked the full hour, the psychiatrist couldn't put in a single word. He could only listen. When the session was up, and her parents came in, the doctor confided that she had the strangest mind he'd ever seen and he didn't quite know what to do with it.

After a two hour drive home, Bryony was cutting it close for time. 30 minutes to be exact. She told Tom and Ana that she was going to bed, and that she didn't want to talk to them. And they accepted it, deciding they needed to have a talk amongst adults. Bryony went to her cabin and braided her hair, changed into jeans and a baseball tee and turned out the lights for about 15 minutes. She wanted to wear something she could move in if she was going to Starland- besides, they'd giver her a dress if she needed one. When it was time for her to go, she put on a denim jacket, grabbed her bow and put it over her shoulder, and grabbed her flashlight. Quietly, as always, she snuck out and kept in the dark until she reached the trees.

Her clearing was empty when she got there, so she waited. Luckily though, it wasn't a very long time before the angel came running. He was a little out of breath-something he wasn't accustomed to. "Sorry I'm late, ran into a bit of trouble." He informed her, resting his hands on his knees and hunching over, trying to catch his breath. When he did, he held his hand out to her. "Ready?"

Bryony took his hand, braced for her adventure. "Yes."

"Good." He led her off to a small building, only two windows remained in tact. they went inside and he stood with her, their backs facing the window. "It might hurt." He informed her.

"Don't care." She waited again, rather impatient this time. After what seemed like an eternity, Bryony felt a hand on the back of her jacket and then she was lifted off her feet and through the glass. It didn't hurt nearly as much as she would have expected. Though, her eyes were closed as she went through. She landed on her hands and knees. The angel stood up, feeling his power return to him. Pressing his index and middle fingers to the child's head, he healed all cuts and scrapes and bruises. Bryony opened her eyes and her dream was in front of her. Everything she'd imagined, in front of her eyes. It was all real.

But it wasn't real, not really- it was a fabrication. The angel had his brother, the trickster and archangel, create it from Bryony's description. And he had to admit, Gabriel was awful good at what he did. "I knew it was real" She whispered. "I knew it" Her voice moved from a whisper, to speaking softly. In the distance, she could see a castle perched upon a cliff. She smiled and grabbed the angels hand, pointing to it, pulling him through the tall grass with water on either side of them.

"So, tell me, Bryony, logically if the Queen is a mermaid- how does she live in a castle?" Bryony rolled her eyes.

"Cause she only has fins if she's in water, duh." Bryony informed him. Balthazar 'batmaned' them up into the castle, where there was a woman in a plain white gown and very, very long wet red hair. "How did you do that?!" She exclaimed, ignoring the queen."Did you use magic?! Can I use it to?!"

The queen came and put her hands on the child's shoulders. "Everyone can use magic here."

* * *

Bryony was in this world for a whole week, fighting evil, saving the kingdom. How was she to know that it was all a lie, and that back home, she had been assumed dead after the first 48 hours. Her parents mourned, not bothering to continue with the search. After all, for all they knew, she could have been eaten by a bear and they would never find a body. Bry wasn't close with anyone in her family, and she didn't miss them like they missed her. In fact they never crossed her mind, not once.

The angel was never given a name, and she was okay with that. There was a certain charm to her nickname for him 'The Raggedy Angel', and she didn't think any other name would compare. Today was her coronation, she was going to be crowned princess- a reward for defeating the dread pirate Jones and his crew. The mermaids dressed her up in their finest green silks, curled her dark hair in cascading ringlets, and gave her a beautiful gold headpiece that they weaved through her hair. And, of course, her feet were void of shoes- though, they did give her beaded gold and emerald chains that draped beautifully over the top of her feet.

She sat on her throne, after being crowned and everyone had left. "Are you ready to go home?" The angel appeared from thin air, having been missing the last day. Bryony exhaled.

"Do I have a choice?" The pretty little child looked upset, eyes cast downward, like going home was the worst fate anyone could wish upon her.

"There is always a choice, Bryony, you just have to make the right one." The angel sat on the floor beside her throne as she looked around the empty ballroom. "So, what's it going to be?" His accent was coming through strong.

Bryony reached out for his hand, which he willingly took, and she stood regal with her back straight and her chin in the air, grabbing her bow. "Take me home, Raggedy Man."

And he did. He brought her back to the place she'd crossed over and kissed her little hand. "Goodbye, princess." He said as she faced the glass and things began to melt away behind them, like paint running from a painting after a rain. Without turning back, she asked. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

"No." He answered truthful to his knowledge of the future, but oh- how wrong he truly was. Bryony nodded as the symbol that brought them there glowed red, her vision was a bit fuzzy, but she would always remember it. Always.

She flew through the portal, and ended up on the other side perfectly fine. Not a scratch for some strange reason.

And then she ran home. Busting through the doors, disregarding the candles lit- thinking no time at all had passed like if she was in Narnia. But not even Gabriel was powerful enough for that. "Momma! Dad!" She shouted. "I'm home!" She took her bow off of her shoulders and ran into the kitchen.

Her Mom turned around at the pitter patter of her feet. "Bryony?" Her mom's voice was weak. She pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "Oh thank god, Tom!" She called her husband. Her mother kissed her forehead, "Where were you? Are you alright? What are you wearing?"

Bryony pushed her mother away. "I ran away with my angel. He understands!"

* * *

14 Years Later

"You can do it, Snow, just concentrate." Bryony instructed her seven year old younger sister. Bryony was visiting home from her college (Boston University) for the weekend. Bryony's parent's decided to have another child and they had this thing that the new older sibling could pick the name, and when Bryony saw how pale, dark haired and rosy cheeked her baby sister was she couldn't resist. It had fit so well.

Bryony had brought Snow to her clearing from when she was a child, trusting her with it. After years and years of therapy and time passing, the 21 year old dismissed everything that had happened. She was as normal as she ever would be now. Very often, she asked herself why she'd believed the strange man in the wood. He was no angel, angels didn't exist. And her whole adventure was her minds way of covering up what had really happened. She realized this now, after all these years. "Pull your shoulder back." Bryony told Snow, demonstrating and letting her arrow go, hitting right on target.

One thing her mind never did but together was what she'd returned in, if none of it was real, how did she have those clothes and jewels worth 10s of thousands of dollars. It just made no sense. What really did happen to her in that week? For ten years after everything had happened, she believed whole heartedly that she had an angel, that her silly Starland was real- she couldn't let go. But she had to grow up eventually, everyone had to grow up, and her imagination was lost to her. Her entire being was based on that angel, that fantasy, and when it was taken away from her- she lost it. She'd shredded and burned all the evidence of it existing. Except the dress and the jewels, she'd sold everything but the tiara. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it, no matter how much she wanted to.

Snow loosed her arrow and missed the center by three rings. Snow looked upset. "You'll get it eventually." Bry comforted her sister and took a few shots at her own target, intentionally missing.

Snow sighed and crossed her arms. "You're just trying to make me feel better, Bry." The older sister shrugged. "Why don't you try?" Bryony gladly took Snow up on that, letting three off in a very short amount of time- all effortlessly landing in the small brown center. "Show off." Snow muttered.

Bryony laughed and shrugged it off, "Why don't you head home, I'll meet you there," Bry handed Snow her flashlight. "It's getting dark, be careful." She warned.

"Okay, see you soon." Snow kissed Bryony's cheek, and waved, skipping off down the marked path. Every time she came home, she returned to this exact spot. Hoping she was going to see the man again, she had so many questions for him. So many answers she needed. The sun was setting, but she didn't want to go home. So she didn't. Instead, she wandered further and the woods got thicker. She couldn't see much of anything. It was almost as if she was just existing. That was, until she stumbled upon something rather strange.

Wedged in between two trees was an old, rusted up black muscle car. The earth had taken most of it over. Intrigued, she approached the car. Studying its curves and dents. The license plate read Kansas and the make was Chevy. The car looked familiar to Bry, like she'd seen it before.

With a forceful tug she managed to open the back doors, she climbed in and over the front seat, sitting where a driver would. The keys were still in the ignition and with a smile on her face she pressed the clutch pedal and turned the key. 1, 2, 3 times and nothing happened. She sighed and leaned back in the metal beast against the torn leather upholstery. She bit her nails and relaxed. That was when a strange symbol began to glow red. Her heart began to race as it appeared from nowhere, she remembered it. For a moment she begged it to go away, this couldn't happen again, she wasn't crazy. She tried to get away from the light, but she couldn't jump over the seat fast enough. Two familiar invisible hands grabbed the collar of her red worn in and torn leather jacket, and yanked her through- Shattering the front windshield of the car.

She landed, hitting pavement- not trees- with a loud thud. For a moment she felt like she broke her arm, but in fact, she hadn't. The leather sleeve of her jacket became even further torn and tattered by the gravel, along with the denim of her jeans now sanded on the sides. Her white tee shirt remained in tact though. She pushed her self up and stood, dusting herself off and pulling out small pieces of glass from her hand. They didn't so much hurt the way they stung. With one step forward, she stumbled and leaned against the black car again, having stepped on a piece of glass with bare feet. It shattered under her weight and entered the sole of her foot in six different places. "Shit fuck!" She exclaimed and bit into her lip. At the time the pain was excruciating and felt like it went all the way through her foot, though it never pierced the top. She looked around, more than freaked out, her heart was racing. She shut her eyes tightly and imagined everything was gone. But when they opened, she was still in front of an old hotel in Ohio. She clenched and unclenched her fists, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. When she finally spoke, her voice was horse and dry and quiet. "Where are you, Raggedy Angel?"

* * *

A/N: YAY! I plotted out this story with the awesome River Winters! I am SO EXCITED! Please leave reviews or PM :)


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